The Sacrifice of the Swan
by The Wandering Delusion
Summary: While trapped within a Vandenreich prison cell, Tia Hallibel reflects on herself and how far she has come since the day she died and became a Hollow. The former Third Espada contemplates her journey and how different she is from the scared little teenage girl she once was. Back when she was living in Forks, Washington with a group of vampires. Back when she was known as Bella Swan.


**The Sacrifice of the Swan**

A/N: I know there are several translations of Hallibel's name. The official one seems to be Tier Harribel, (That's the one on Bleach Wiki) but I've always found that awkward to use. I prefer using Tia Hallibel.

This premise is pretty out there, so I'll be amazed if anyone ever actually reads this.

Start

The shackles around her wrists bit painfully into her dark skin, the metal somehow completely bypassing the defense of her Hierro. The chains forced her arms up above her shoulders at an unnatural and painful angle. The Arrancar hung limply from these chains, as they were the only thing supporting her.

Tia Hallibel was beaten. Her strength was gone and she could barely feel her reiatsu. Her mouth and throat were dry, having been denied water or food. The once powerful Espada had been reduced to a pathetic prisoner. She couldn't even find the energy to raise her head. All she could do was hang from the chains and think.

How long had she been here? Trapped within a dungeon by those _thrice-damned Vandenreich!_ After Aizen's defeat, Hallibel had reassembled her Fraccion and returned to Hueco Mundo. As the last remaining Espada, Hallibel was easily the strongest being within Hueco Mundo and she took control. Hallibel feared that Soul Society may one day invade to finish off the remnants of Aizen's army that still remained, so the former Espada prepped for another war with the Soul Reapers.

It therefore came as a surprise when Hallibel found herself locked in combat with the Quincy instead of Soul Reapers. The Queen of Hueco Mundo had confronted the leader of the invading force, hoping to discourage the Quincy and make them retreat by killing him.

That plan had ended in disaster.

The Emperor of the Vandenreich, Juha Bach, was terrifyingly powerful. Hallibel had always respected Aizen's power, if nothing else, but Juha Bach defied description. Nothing the Arrancar had tried even seemed to faze the man. The dark haired Quincy easily dominated their fight and captured her, taking her to the prison cell she currently found herself in.

Even after all her time in imprisonment, Hallibel's wounds still hadn't healed and her reiatsu hadn't returned. Whether it was an effect of the cell she was in, or a testament to Juha's fantastic power, she didn't know. All Hallibel did know was that she was useless in her current state and she prayed her Fraccion were safe.

It left a bitter taste in the Arrancar's mouth. Even after all these years, even after all she had gone through, she still found herself powerless and relying on others. The former Tres Espada clenched her teeth. It had been a long time since Hallibel had felt this weak. It hadn't been since the days when she was human. The days when she was just some stupid teenage girl living in Forks, Washington. Back when she was in a relationship with a vampire. Back when she was known as Bella Swan.

Hallibel hated revisiting the memories of her human days, but with nothing else to do in her cell but think, she found herself reminiscing about how she died and what led to her death.

It had been after Edward Cullen had left her. Even now, the name left the Arrancar feeling cold. It took centuries before Hallibel could even stand to say his name out loud. Edward Cullen, the man she had so convinced herself she was in love with. Hallibel let out a bitter chuckle at that thought. It took her becoming a soul eating monster to realize how foolish and misguided she was back then.

Bella had always been a very selfish, yet insecure girl, a dangerous combination. Bella was a horribly co-dependent person, practically incapable of living on her own. She always tried to bend the world to her whims and shut down when it didn't. What made things worse was that her own insecurities made her incapable of recognizing her selfishness for what it was.

When Bella had agreed to leave Arizona behind and move to Washington, it wasn't out of a desire to make her mother happy, quite the opposite. She couldn't stand that her mother had married someone else and was now required to move often to keep up with his baseball career. Her step father's career diverted attention away from Bella and she couldn't hope to handle a life like that, so she ran away to live with her father in Forks.

Then she met Edward Cullen.

If there was a worse person in the world for Bella Swan, then Hallibel hadn't met him yet. Edward Cullen was a man who brought out the worst in her. Edward Cullen was so similar to Bella Swan that it was amazing. An incredibly arrogant and selfish individual, but too caught up in his own "tragedy" to notice how he treated others.

Edwards was a man who was used to getting what he wanted. His ability to read minds allowed him to manipulate people with ease, using them to get whatever he desired from them. Bella's ability to resist his mind reading fascinated Edward, so he wanted to learn about her, pick her brain apart. In a twisted way, Edward did love Bella, but only in the way a man loves a pet. He showered her with affection to encourage the traits he wanted and reprimanded her to remove the traits he didn't. Edward never viewed Bella as an equal; she was just an amusing little human to play with.

Then, when Edward had had his fun and was done playing with Bella? He left. He just up and left. He and his family simply left Bella behind in the woods, leaving her for dead. He walked into her life, made himself the most important person in her world, and they just left.

The Arrancar remembers the day with a disturbing clarity. The way she screamed and begged him not to leave her. The way she desperately told him how much she loved him. None of it mattered, Edward left anyway. It always struck Hallibel as ironic that only after becoming a Vasto Lorde that she was able to see what her relationship with Edward had truly been.

Bella didn't love Edward, she never did. Bella was obsessed with him and there was a very big difference between the two. She hadn't wanted to love Edward so much as she wanted _him_ to love _her_. Bella had met, from her then skewered view, an utterly perfect individual. Being with Edward was a constant boost to her own ego, providing Bella with self-worth. He served as a massive symbol to everyone, that Bella was worth something, that this "perfect man" saw something in her. Edward was more than happy to play up her little fascination, stringing her along until she was utterly obsessed with him. Bella, the fool, had confused obsession with actual love. It made Hallibel sick to think about how parasitic their "relationship" had been, both for her and him.

Aizen himself said it best: Admiration and obsession are the farthest things from understanding and love. Truly, Bella and Edwards relationship, if it can even be truly called that, was doomed from the start. The two of them leeched off each other, Edward was just the one who pulled out first.

Still, Hallibel remembers the feeling of pain and anguish that had filled her after watching Edward walk away. It had felt as if a hole had been ripped out of her chest. For months afterward, all Bella had been capable of doing was sitting around in a daze or screaming out in pain. At the time, she had no idea she was going through the process of Soul Chain Consumption. She would later find it ironic that the feeling that her heart had been torn from her chest was disturbingly accurate.

Eventually, the pain had become too great and Bella decided she couldn't go on anymore. Bella always hated rain and water, so it only seemed appropriate to use it to end her suffering. Under the pretense of cliff-diving, Bella selected the highest cliff she could find on a day when the waves were at their worst. Without any form of equipment, experience, or back-up; Bella took a running leap off the cliff and into the water. Her plan worked, Bella Swan drowned that day.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it, not by a long shot. Her soul had remained chained to the bottom of the water, trapped out of sight from any Soul Reapers who could have purified her. Not that it would have mattered, Bella's own self destructive habits had eroded her Spirit Chain to a pitiful length. She was a Hollow within days of her death.

To this day, Hallibel doesn't know why Edward truly decided to leave. She had a pretty good guess though. Edward had grown tired of playing with his little pet and decided to drop her like a bad habit. He thought she was just some weak little human who would never truly be worth his time, so he left. Hallibel knows Edward sure as shit didn't leave for the reason he actually said he left; that it was too dangerous for him to be with her, even if he actually believed that. Edward was so convinced that his own problems eclipsed anyone else's that he honestly thought he had a right to do whatever he wanted, simply because being a vampire was "the worst fate imaginable."

Hallibel snorted at the thought. If Edward thought being a vampire was difficult, then she would like to see him try being a Hollow. The indescribable hunger, the feeling of absolute _need_ to eat, the undeniable truth that you are no longer human, and being constantly hunted by Soul Reapers. Even then, that was only for the basic Hollows, it became even worse once a Hollow evolves to Menos Grande.

Edward considered himself a monster, but he had no idea what a true monster was. At the end of the day, Edward was still human. He couldn't be in direct sunlight and had to occasionally eat animal blood. That was it. It was easy, practically trivial, to blend into the human world. It was much, much worse for Hollows.

To become a Hollow is to become consumed by your very own negative emotions and become a beast. No one who looks at a Hollow could even remotely confuse it for a human, not that any Hollow would try to blend, they don't have the reason for that. Hollows may be sentient, even articulate, but they were created by negative emotions. Hollows don't have the ability to live quietly or in peace, they cast those abilities away. All that matters is feeding. Eating and consuming, trying in vain to end the vacuous void within them called hunger.

Hallibel remembers the day her chain finished consuming itself and her soul mutated into a shark like Hollow. The years spent as a basic Hollow were difficult to remember, mainly due to her mind being solely focused on sating her hunger. All she does remember is knowing that she didn't want to stay in the area where she had died, so she struck out to sea.

Hallibel wasn't sure how long she spent patrolling the Pacific in her shark form. It was surprisingly easy to find dead souls out in the ocean if one knew where to look, so she remained fairly well fed. She simply allowed her inner beast to take control. Bella the Hollow only wanted to feed. Bella the Hollow didn't have to deal with the pain and heartbreak that Bella the human had to, so she simply let her instincts guide her and shut her mind away.

That all changed the day she finally met another Hollow. Given the seclusion of the sea, Bella hadn't yet encountered another of her own kind yet. On that day, she had been testing out some new appendages she had recently grown that allowed her to crawl out on land. She was testing out her ability to walk on a small island off the coast of Japan when a tear had opened in the air before her, something she would later learn was called a Garganta.

A Hollow stepped out of the tear and onto the sand of the small island. The creature was tall and thin, resembling a bat in shape. Hallibel remembers feeling curious about this creature until she made eye contact. There being a lack of mirrors in the ocean, Bella had never seen her own eyes, so it was the first time she say the amber eyes of a Hollow.

Those eyes. Those amber eyes. They were Edward's eyes. At that moment, Bella flew into a rage. All the pain and anger she had left behind came roaring back at the sight of those eyes. Without even realizing it, Bella managed to use a very basic version of Sonido to tackle the amber-eyed Hollow back into the Garganta.

The Hollow was unprepared for Bella's assault and only managed to put up a paltry defense before Bella managed to devour him. Only once she was certain the Hollow was dead did Bella's rage cool and her mind returned. The memory of Edward had opened the floodgates and Bella's mind was back in control.

With her proper mental facilities restored, Bella had taken in her surroundings. She had landed in the Forest of Menos, though she hadn't known that at the time, within the Hollow world of Hueco Mundo. Now that her human sentience had returned, Bella was finally able to properly marvel at her new form and powers. She no longer felt like the weak human she had once been, she felt powerful, she felt invincible. Yet, she somehow knew that she could still become even stronger. Eating the Hollow seemed to increase Bella's strength, so she came to a decision.

She may not have fully understood her situation, but she saw it as a second chance. Edward had left her and she had allowed herself to be hurt because she had been weak. She had been too weak to live like a decent human being without relying on others. She had been too weak to realize how venomous her relationship with Edward had been. Now she had power, power to prove that Edward was wrong about her. She was strong enough to take care of herself now. Bella had never liked being human, and now she no longer was.

It was almost ironic, in a way. Edward had been such a source of pain for her, but now he became her strength. Bella drew strength from her desire to become better than Edward. She would master these new powers and leave her pain and anguish as a human behind.

So Bella began eating. She doesn't remember for how long, but she fought and ate and grew stronger with every battle. Her determination to overcome the memories of Edward Cullen drove her forward, urging her to grow in strength and power. She ruthlessly slaughtered any enemies weaker than her while carefully avoiding the powerful Gillians that lived in the forest.

As is typical of all Hollows who begin eating their own kind, the various souls all within one body eventually become too much for the vessel to take. To compensate for all the power and souls within itself, the Hollow undergoes an evolution, taking on a larger and more powerful form. The form of Gillian level Menos Grande.

Bella had only just finished her latest meal when a sudden tremor passed through her body. Pain began wracking her body as voices began shouting in her head. The evolution from a basic Hollow to a Menos Grande is a very painful one. Bella had been pulled within her mindscape, only to find herself being attacked by all the Hollows she had eaten at once. The various souls that Bella had devoured seemed to form a massive tidal wave that crashed down on her.

Even locked within a Vandenreich prison, Hallibel couldn't help the shudder that passed through her at the memory of her evolution. It had been eerily similar to drowning. She had felt lost and overwhelmed beneath a sea of vengeful souls, all trying to devour her as she had devoured them. Despite facing down hundreds upon hundreds of souls, despite facing a challenge that had destroyed countless Hollows' minds before her, Bella survived.

Even among hundreds of Hollow souls, Bella was still the strongest. She refused to surrender to those she had already beaten. Bella could imagine the look of smug superiority on Edward's face if he had been there, watching as she was consumed. He would mock how her own actions would lead to her demise, just like he always knew it would. She never could take care of herself.

The very thought of Edward mocking her galled her. She _would_ prove him wrong, that she was not the weakling he had left behind that day!

Bella cut and slashed and kicked and bit and fought. Every Hollow she had ever consumed was faced at once and defeated within her mind. Bella killed and killed and killed until she was the only one left, until she was the final soul standing within her own mind. With the last Hollow defeated, Bella reassumed control of her body and realized that she had changed.

She now stood impossibly tall, her head nearly as tall as the top of the Menos Forest. She was black from head to toe, save her long and bony white fingers. A large mask adorned her face. Unlike the identical long-nosed mask of most Gillian, hers resembled a shark's open maw. Bella had done it; she had become a Menos Grande and still managed to retain her reasoning.

With this new power under her command, the newly minted Menos began hunting anew. The towering pillars of power known as the Gillians were now free game. Before, Bella had taken careful steps to avoid confronting such powerful creatures, but now she could stand on equal footing in power and her sentience gave her an edge over the animal-like Gillians.

The next evolution was much easier to endure. Bella was prepared for it and was easily able to dominate the souls within her as her body changed. With her Gillian form behind her, the Adjuchas suddenly found the forest unbearably stifling. The large quartz trees and ceiling seemed to close in on her, even though her new form was much smaller than her Gillian form.

Bella began hyperventilating at the feeling of claustrophobia and paranoia that had overtaken her; she couldn't stay in the forest a moment longer. With a cry, Bella crouched down low and flung herself at the ceiling, crashing into it with the force of a Sonido. She dropped to the ground and used Sonido again; slamming into the ceiling in hope that she could break through.

Despite repeatedly using her new body as a battering ram at supersonic speeds, the ceiling of the Forest of Menos held firm. Rapidly losing her composure, Bella had accidentally used another of her new abilities. She leapt into the air again, this time with a yellow light shining from within her jaw. With a roar of determination, Bella unleashed her very first Cero into the ceiling. The blast had been weak and unfocused, but it had been enough.

With a cry of triumph, Bella pulled herself up through the hole she had created and began digging upward. For a terrifying moment, Bella had feared that she would only find more and more sand above her. The moment passed as she finally emerged out into the open air of the Hueco Mundo desert.

Bella greedily breathed in the open air of the desert, as she rejoiced in the wide open space around her. It reminded her of nights in Arizona desert. Nothing but sand as far as the eye could see with a moon above that was strong enough to shed light everywhere.

Bella's euphoria hadn't lasted long, as her hunger returned with a vengeance. There was something more than just simple hunger though. Bella felt a sense of fear coupled with this hunger. She could literally feel her new powers leaving her as her hunger went unfulfilled. Whether by instinct or by luck, Bella realized that she had to continue eating other Hollows or her Adjuchas form wouldn't last. Somehow, Bella was certain that if she reverted to the Gillian stage, then she would _not_ keep her sentience again.

The thought of coming so far, only to revert back to some form of mindless monster, had terrified Bella. To lose everything after coming so far simply wasn't an option. Bella had sacrificed everything she had ever known to reach this level; she would not let everything she had worked for slip away.

So, she set out to continue her hunting. Bella had intended to continue using the same methods she used in the forest; preying on those weaker than her while avoiding the ones that were stronger. However, she soon abandoned that method, instead challenging any and every opponent she set eyes on. Bella had been shocked to find herself reveling in the battles she experienced on those bone white sands.

The battles on the surface of Hueco Mundo were far harder than the ones underground. The primary inhabitants of the desert were fellow Adjuchas, each of whom were just as desperate as she was to avoid regressing. The battles were near constant, and Bella found herself loving every moment of it. In battle, her worries and hunger seemed far away, all that mattered was her and her opponent, and there were no other outside factors to weigh her down.

As a human, Bella had always been a selfish person, demanding other people make sacrifices for her while giving up nothing herself. However, her death had shown Bella that there was such a thing as positive sacrifice. Committing suicide might have been a coward's way out, but it was still a form of sacrifice, the sacrifice of her own life. That sacrifice had led to Bella gaining her current power. She realized that sacrifice was the way to strength.

On the sands of Hueco Mundo, all that mattered was battle. With every fight, every encounter, you ran the risk of sacrificing everything you had worked for to further the evolution of another Hollow. It was exhilarating for Bella. She risked everything, not because she was weak, but because she was strong enough to win. To grow stronger, Bella had to risk losing everything. She who dares, wins and Bella was now more than willing to lay everything down on the line. Bella had never gambled as a human, but if it was anything like risking her life in battle, then she would have been a hopeless addict. When it came to Hueco Mundo; the rules were simple and the stakes were very high.

Hallibel still isn't sure what came over her during her Adjuchas years, just that she can still remember the feeling of absolute exhilaration that filled her during those battles. It was different, almost contradictory to her previous feelings. She was desperate to avoid death to prove she wasn't weak, but as an Adjuchas, she actively sought it out. The battles felt…different than they had before. At first, it was just about survival, and it still was, but now it was about the battle itself as well.

Bella had feared that if she lost, than it would only prove she was weak. However, she found that the thought of losing a battle in Hueco Mundo didn't bother her nearly as much as regressing did. To regress would prove that she couldn't handle her own power and that would prove she was weak. However, challenging an opponent of equal or even greater strength in battle? If she won, than it proved her strength. If she lost, then she died in a way of her own choosing and did it while on her feet and locked in combat. Bella the human could never have stared possible death in the face and retained her composure. She would have frozen, or broken down, or simply ran in fear. Hollow Bella was more than willing to leap into a potential death sentence, just to prove she could come out of it alive.

Bella never stopped striving forward, determined to overcome any opponent put before her. Bella had never felt more alive than during the years spent fighting for her life on the cold sands of Hueco Mundo.

One day, nearly a century after becoming an Adjuchas, Bella succeeded in her original goal. It had after interrupting a fight between a snake-like Hollow and an ape-like one. The ape clearly had the advantage and managed to severely damage the snake.

Seeing an opportunity to consume two Hollows for the price of one, Bella interfered. The snake was too damaged to get away and the ape was tired after its battle. Bella blindsided the ape Hollow, striking a fatal blow almost instantly. She eagerly devoured the creature and turned her sights towards the snake, only to feel a familiar tremor pass through her body.

Almost screaming in delight, Bella felt her body change shape as absolute power flooded through her. Her bright yellow reiatsu exploded around her in a vortex, shining like a beacon in the dark world of Hueco Mundo. She had done it, she had transcended Adjuchas and become a creature of legend; a Vasto Lorde.

Bella shrunk from a mutated land shark into a humanoid form. Her body was covered in white armor; her right arm was covered by a long blade that resembled a shark tooth The armor changed to a light blue on her stomach and chest area. Her shark tail still remained, which Bella was rather thankful for. She had always been strangely proud of the appendage. Her shark jaws remained, covering the lower half of her head.

After spending so long as a very large shark, Bella had found it bizarrely disconcerting to be the shape and size of a human again. She was interrupted from examining her body by the sound of pained whimpering. The newly minted Vasto Lorde turned her gaze towards the snake the ape had been fighting.

The creature was shivering in fear, no doubt recognizing Bella for what she was and believing she was about to be consumed. For a moment, Bella had considered devouring the snake as well, only to realize with a start that her hunger wasn't bothering her. It wasn't gone and she doubted it ever truly would be, but it no longer held the incredible control over her, especially now that she no longer had to fear regression. Without the all-consuming hunger controlling her, Bella felt no reason to devour this creature. She had what she wanted, she was a Vasto Lorde, she could afford to be merciful, just this once.

Slowly, so she could get used to walking on two legs again, Bella made her way over toward the snake. The pale grey serpent with three pink dots beneath its eyes whimpered again, but was still too damaged to get away. Slowly, cautiously, Bella knelt down and reached out with her left hand. The snake's eye clenched shut in fear, only to slowly open them as Bella gently stroked the snake's cheek.

"Y-You aren't going to eat me?" The snake asked in a distinctly feminine voice. Bella simply shook her head. The snake dropped to the ground, relief flooding her. "Thank you! Oh, thank you! You saved me!" Bella was slightly off put by the Adjuchas' behavior, having never had an interaction with a Hollow that didn't involve battle. Seeing a Hollow bowing to her in gratitude was certainly new.

Bella simply shrugged and got to her feet, intending to find a place to test out her new abilities. "W-Wait!" The snake called. Bella had stopped and turned to gaze at the snake, idly noting that the wounds from the ape were already well on their way to healing. The snake seemed to debate with herself for a moment before speaking. "Can…Can I come with you?"

The question had thrown Bella for a complete loop, and she just stood there in shock. Taking the silence for disbelief, the serpent explained herself. "You saved my life, it's only right that I become your servant. I promise to follow you and do whatever you ask of me. Please, I… I don't want to be alone anymore."

Bella continued to stare at the snake, not quite believing what she was hearing. She had been about to turn and leave, but hesitated. She no longer needed to worry about feeding to avoid regression, and as a Vasto Lorde; she was one of the strongest creatures in all of Hueco Mundo. No sane Hollow would be stupid enough to challenge her now, so she doubted she would be fighting as much as she used to. It actually made Bella rather sad to know there would be very few beings capable of challenging her in combat any more. So why not take on a companion? Bella realized with a pang that she hadn't actually talked to anyone or anything since her death. Had she truly been on her own for so long?

The more and more she thought about it, the more Bella decided she liked the idea. With a soft smile on her face, not that it was visible beneath her shark jaw mask, Bella nodded towards the snake. The serpent cried out in joy and rushed over, nuzzling her head into Bella's chest.

"Oh thank you, Mistress! Thank you, thank you!" The snake pulled back slightly. "My name is Sung-Sun, what is yours?"

Bella, once again off put by this Hollow's behavior, attempted to speak. She had always thought of herself as a Hollow version of herself, so she attempted to say she was called Hollow Bella, but she was unused to speaking after centuries' worth of silence, so the words came out in a jumble.

Sung-Sun tilted her head slightly, trying to understand the mumbled words. "Hallibel? Is that your name?" She asked.

Bella had been about to correct her, but paused. She had sacrificed everything else to gain her current power, why not her name as well? Perhaps it was time to finally cut ties with her human past and look to the future as a Vasto Lorde. She had absolutely no doubt that she had surpassed Edward Cullen and it was high time she stopped letting his memory have control over her. With a deep breath, the newly christened Vasto Lorde spoke.

"Yes, my name is Hallibel." Deep within the desert of Hueco Mundo, Bella Swan died a quiet death and Tia Hallibel was born.

Traveling with Sung-Sun had been an eye opening experience for Hallibel. It struck her just how much she had missed having someone to talk to. Sung-Sun was exceedingly loyal to Hallibel, willing to do anything the Vasto Lorde asked. Hallibel had to stop herself on several occasions, lest she become intoxicated by this power she held over others. She would not become Edward and treat those who cared about her like some kind of pet!

She ended up picking up two other strays as well, a lion called Mila-Rose and a deer known as Apache. Without even realizing it, Hallibel had created her own little family in the cold world of Hueco Mundo. Listening with detached amusement as Apache and Mila-Rose argued with each other, it struck Hallibel how very human they all acted.

Seeing her girls (subordinates? Sisters? Daughters? Hallibel never truly knew what to consider them, just that they were hers) interact always gave her pause for thought, each Hollow had their own story to tell, many of them were probably far worse than her own. Truly, how different were Hollows from the humans they had once been? She always wondered; were Hollows capable of creating their own society within Hueco Mundo? Human's had theirs in the living world, Soul Reapers had theirs in Soul Society, so why not Hollows in Hueco Mundo?

Ultimately, she supposed it was impossible. Mercy and camaraderie were in short supply that desolate world. As long as Hollows were required to eat each other, then there could never be true peace. At least, she had thought that until she met the man known as Aizen Souske.

This man, a Soul Reaper, had incredible power, so much so that Hallibel felt more than a little intimidated in his presence. He approached her with a solution, a way to establish a working society within Hueco Mundo. He had a way to humanize Hollows, a way to take away their never ending hunger and allow them to interact without always trying to kill each other.

Hallibel wasn't sure she truly believed him, but the man had power to spare, and she respected him for that if nothing else. Hallibel had thought of her girls, the promise of giving them a peaceful world to live in was far too tempting an offer for her to truly refuse. So Hallibel accepted, her girls became her Fraccion and she became the Third Espada.

Hallibel had thought becoming a Vasto Lorde would be the last time she ever evolved, but Aizen proved her wrong. With the power of the Hogyoku, Hallibel and her Fraccion became Arrancar and took up residence in Las Noches.

It was only once the majority of her Hollow traits had been removed, and when she actually managed to get her hands on a mirror, did Hallibel realize how vastly her physical appearance had changed. For a moment, she had thought she was staring at someone else. The tall, dark-skinned, and well-endowed blonde was about as far from the short pale-skinned, brunette as possible.

After some consideration, Hallibel realized that it made sense her appearance was so different. Bella Swan had never liked her appearance. She hated her pale skin which burned in the sun, hated her plain brown hair, and always considered herself, at best, an average looking girl. It isn't surprising that, given how hard she had tried to distance herself from her human past, Hallibel ended up looking very different. She had absorbed countless Hollow souls that had all been human at one point, so it was possible she ended up taking a few of the more desirable traits for herself. She reshaped her own soul, sacrificed her old appearance, and now she truly had nothing connecting her to the human named Bella Swan.

Hallibel was very proud of her new form; it seemed like an acknowledgement of how far she had come from the scared teenager living in Forks, Washington. She was now tall, tan, confident, blonde, beautiful, and (as that scumbag Nnoitra put it) possessed a body that could stop traffic. All of that was nothing compared to the incredible power she now possessed.

Now that she had full control of her abilities and could even travel to the human world via Garganta, Hallibel contemplated tracking down Edward Cullen. Given that the vampire couldn't die of old age, it was possible that he could have managed to survive all these centuries, assuming he hadn't been killed somehow.

Hallibel very much liked the idea of hunting down her old flame and tearing him to shreds. His strength would be no match for hers, and if he thought his speed was impressive, then she would love to show him her Sonido. Despite this, Hallibel decided that she had no desire to see Edward again. His death would only bring her momentary satisfaction; she didn't need to kill him to prove she was the stronger one between them now. It didn't matter if he knew it, Hallibel knew it and that was enough. Besides, it wasn't like he would recognize her anyway, even if she got a Gigai from Szayel.

No, Hallibel had her Fraccion and could now live comfortably within the walls of Las Noches as she helped build a Society for Hollows. She decided that this was more than enough for her.

Of course, it hadn't lasted. Aizen had never intended to create that society, he simply needed meat shields between him and Soul Society while he prepared to ascend to Godhood. His betrayal hurt more than it really should have. Hallibel was the embodiment of Sacrifice, after all. She sacrificed everything that had made her human to become strong, and now she and her Fraccion were carelessly sacrificed to further someone else's goals.

Hallibel had already died once, so she wasn't sure what to expect when she did it again. She most certainly hadn't expected to find herself stareing up at an orange-haired human girl with her three Fraccion looking on in worry. Hallibel recognized the girl as Orihime, the human woman that Aizen had Ulquiorra capture as bait.

The former Third Espada slowly sat up, only to be nearly knocked back down by her Fraccion all hugging her at once. "Lady Hallibel! We were so worried!"

"Mila-Rose, Apache, Sung-Sun." She breathed. "How is this possible? I watch all three of you die."

"I brought you all back." Orihime said. Hallibel's gaze shifted to the human girl.

"Why did you save us? We are your enemies."

Orihime shook her head slowly. "Aizen has been defeated. We don't have to be enemies anymore." This revelation certainly shocked Hallibel. Who could possibly be strong enough to best Aizen? Orihime continued. "Besides, enough lives have been needlessly sacrificed in this war. Even if you want to attack me, I still couldn't just let you die. Are you upset that I saved you?"

Hallibel stared down at her Fraccion, who had yet to let her go. She had thought she would never see them again, but here they were, safe and sound. Hallibel wrapped her arms around her three girls and rested her head against theirs. "At this moment, mere words cannot express my gratitude."

The human(could she even be called that with such incredible powers?) smiled. "It was my pleasure." A worried look came over her face. "I suggest you get out of here, though. If you're found, I doubt others will be in a forgiving mood.

Hallibel nodded and got to her feet, pulling her Fraccion with her. With a flick of her finger, a Garganta opened. "Come on, girls. It's time to go home." The three nodded and stepped through the portal to Hueco Mundo. Hallibel had been about to follow, but hesitated. She turned towards Orihime, who was watching intently. "If, for whatever reason, you find yourself trapped within Hueco Mundo again, then seek me out. I will keep you safe and transport you home. I promise."

Orihime nodded. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, Orihime, for once again granting me another chance." With that, Hallibel stepped through the portal, leaving her savior behind.

With Las Noches in shambles and the majority of Aizen's forces dead, Hallibel decided she would rebuild. Aizen may not have ever intended to create a Hollow society, but that didn't mean Hallibel had given up on that dream. Hallibel now stood as the strongest Hollow and quickly became the undisputed Queen of Hueco Mundo.

Hallibel and her Fraccion set up shop within Las Noches and quickly established it as a non-violence zone. Any and all Hollows who started trouble within her walls were firmly dealt with. With her base of operations in place, Hallibel set out across the desert. She approached all the Hollows she met, explaining that she welcomed anyone who wished to escape the endless hunger and combat to join her. Hallibel couldn't make perfect Arrancar without the Hogyoku, but she found numerous research materials in Szayel's lab on the topic of Arrancar creation. It wasn't an ideal solution, but it was a start.

Hallibel had briefly contemplated taking up Aizen's former throne, but decided against it. The throne served as a symbol that whoever sat upon it was superior to everyone else, which is exactly what Hallibel hoped to avoid. She didn't want Hueco Mundo to simply exchange one dictator for another; she wanted to be a respected leader. Besides, the throne brought nothing but painful memories about Aizen, so Hallibel had it destroyed. She also got rid of that ridiculously large couch Aizen was so fond of.

For a short time, Hallibel honestly believed that she could lead the Hollows of Hueco Mundo into a new age. Fate, it seems, is cruel and had other plans in mind. Not even two years passed before the Vandenreich attack and decimated what little progress Hallibel had made in her pursuit. Did she only exist so everything could be taken from her? Is this what it meant to be the embodiment of Sacrifice? To be struck down whenever progress is made?

She supposed it didn't matter. She was trapped within a Quincy prison and her Fraccion were nowhere to be found. "Mila-Rose, Apache, Sung-Sun. Please stay safe until I can find you three again." Hallibel quietly prayed. If anything happened to them, she didn't know what she would do.

Hallibel's fists clenched as the all too familiar resolve filled her. She was Tia Hallibel; strongest Arrancar in existence and Queen of Hueco Mundo. She _would _escape from this prison, she _would _find her Fraccion, and she _would _personally drown Juha Bach once she found him.

As her will hardened, Hallibel felt her power slowly return to her. Despite herself, she smiled slightly. "Wait for me, girls. I'll get out of here soon. I swear it."

End

A/N: I love a good surreal crossover, especially if two characters can be connected as the same person. I really don't know where this idea came from, just that I had to write it down once I thought of it.


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